Podcast Ep. 68: Boilermaker Alum Lesley Wiete’s Journey to Purdue Police Chief

Lesley Wiete:

This is Chief Wiete, and you’re listening to This is Purdue.

Kate Young:

Hi, I’m Kate Young, and you are listening to This is Purdue, the official podcast for Purdue University. As a Purdue alum and Indiana native. I know firsthand about the family of students and professors who are in it together, persistently pursuing and relentlessly rethinking. Who are the next game-changers, difference-makers, ceiling-breakers, innovators? Who are these Boilermakers? Join me as we feature students, faculty and alumni taking small steps toward their giant leaps and inspiring others to do the same.

Lesley Wiete:

The perseverance, the persistence, the never-giving-up attitude… I mean, that’s Purdue, that’s Boilermaker. That’s what it is.

Kate Young:

In this episode of This is Purdue, we’re talking to the new Purdue University Police Department Chief, Lesley Wiete. After an extensive national search, Chief Wiete’s appointment became effective September 1st, 2022. If you remember our This is Purdue episode welcoming Dr. Jerome Adams to Purdue last fall, that’s what you can expect with this episode too. We’re getting to know Chief Wiete on a more personal level. And what an honor it is to welcome the new chief on this podcast.

But there’s something else that makes Chief Wiete stand out. She’s a Boilermaker alum herself, so she knows firsthand why Purdue’s community is so special. Throughout this episode, you’ll hear more about her student experience at Purdue, why she’s passionate about law enforcement, and her goals as the new chief. Oh, and you won’t believe how she met her husband. We’ll start at the beginning though. I asked Chief Wiete what led her to Purdue.

Lesley Wiete:

I grew up in Indiana, so I’ve really known about Purdue probably most of my entire life. When I was looking at, going to college and trying to decide where I wanted to go, what my major was, this was the school… I applied to a few colleges and got accepted here, and this is the path that I decided to take. My major was in psychology with a minor in law and society, and I basically came to Purdue and I never left.

Kate Young:

But was it always a goal of Chief Wiete’s to have a career in law enforcement?

Lesley Wiete:

So I’ve always had a lot of different interests, but yes, policing was something that’s always fascinated me. I think I’ve always enjoyed the fact that you’re outside, you don’t have an office… Of course, now I’m in an office, but even starting out, it’s always great because you’re in a car, you get to move around, you get to get out and talk to people, and that’s always what fascinated me. And you never know what your day’s going to be like, right?

Kate Young:

It’s never the same day every day.

Lesley Wiete:

Never the same day. You just don’t know what it’s going to be like. Originally, I was a student employee when I was going to school. I was a student worker down at MMDC, which is the warehouse south of campus. So I worked there as a student, and when I graduated, I continued working there part-time and trying to decide, what do I want to do? Do I want to go to grad school? Those kinds of things. I was very interested in law enforcement, so I was looking into openings at police departments in the area, and Purdue Police had an opening. I also was in contact with a couple of retired police officers, so they encouraged me and helped pave that way for me, and I was offered the opportunity.

Kate Young:

It’s no surprise that it took persistence and grit for Chief Wiete to get to where she is today. Jay Wasson, Vice President for Physical Facilities and Chief Public Safety Officer, was in charge of the search committee for the new Purdue University Police Department Chief. This process started in May 2022. Here’s Jay discussing what it was like finding the right fit for this role at Chief Wiete’s official swearing-in and pinning ceremony in September 2022.

Jay Wasson:

We undertook a very extensive national search to ensure that we found the absolute best person to lead the department and ensure that effective law enforcement remained a sustained characteristic of the Purdue campus environment. This individual needed to be a good fit for the department, needed to be a good fit for our university community, and candidly, me with my accumulated days of experience on the job. When it was all said and done, there was one preferred candidate that stood out above all the rest. She is a Boilermaker, one of our own that knows our campus, its operation, and most importantly, its people, better than all the others. She’s a Boilermaker that breathes black and gold, with a fierce loyalty to the university and our fundamental roots as a land-grant institution of higher learning, research and discovery.

Kate Young:

I asked Chief Wiete more about pursuing this role, her mentors, and the challenges she’s overcome throughout the years. And when the chief role opened up, were you like, “I’m ready. I’m going for this?”

Lesley Wiete:

Yeah, I’m not going to say it wasn’t a little nerve-wracking, and you’re like, “Okay, but I’ve had a lot of people encouraging me, supporting me, and prepared me for this moment, so I am ready.” Definitely.

Kate Young:

How did you overcome some challenges? Because you’d started as a patrol officer. Now you’ve worked your way up to chief. Tell us about that journey and the things that you had to overcome.

Lesley Wiete:

I think being a woman in law enforcement offers its own challenges, but there’s a lot of positivity to have women in law enforcement, and I think we offer a whole nother area that maybe others can’t. But it depends on the person too. I don’t want to take away from my male counterparts, who are wonderful, wonderful officers, do a great job. I think it’s also, you have to prove yourself. When you first start in this male-dominated profession, you have to prove to people that you can do it, you’re capable, you’re smart, you’ve got a good grasp on this and you’re going to make it work. That’s what I’ve done, and constantly and consistently just proved myself throughout the years.

Kate Young:

Did you have any mentors within the police department as you were working your way up, or any mentors, professors at Purdue that you really remember?

Lesley Wiete:

So I’ve had different people throughout my time in the police department who have helped get me to certain places and get me to those trainings. So definitely, yes. I would even say Bill Coghill. When I got hired on at the police department, he was the director for the police department. He’s now an instructor here. And he’s always been one of my biggest fans and encouraged me and always rooted me on. And my husband always goes to his classes and does talks, and sometimes I go with him and we talk to his students in law enforcement. He’s been one of those wonderful people that has always been consistent throughout my career that I get to see and talk to, and he has always been there.

Kate Young:

And what excites Chief Wiete most about this role?

Lesley Wiete:

I think there’s a lot of things about this that really excite me. My department makes it easy. They are a wonderful group of officers, dispatchers, records clerks, my detectives. Everybody in the department is just wonderful and they make it work and they know what to do, and I’m excited to lead them and for us to be that team. And I think we’ve got a lot of opportunities ahead of us that are going to be very positive for them, for the Purdue community… So I’m excited to see where that all goes.

Kate Young:

I asked Chief Wiete about some of her goals for the Purdue University Police Department.

Lesley Wiete:

One thing I do want to look at trying to implement is social media. Purdue Police doesn’t have social media, and that is definitely one of the things, within probably a year or so, that I’d like to be able to implement. Of course, being a police department, there’s policies, procedures and things we have to put in place and make sure we get all that squared away. But definitely one of those things I think we’re behind in the times on, and it would benefit us to have that so we can communicate with our students

Kate Young:

Right, and really quickly.

Lesley Wiete:

Yeah. Whatever that is, whether Twitter or Facebook, and getting out something quick, even for football. Football game days or a reminder ahead of time. “Hey, remember football’s this weekend. Move your cars if you’re supposed to,” or, “Be patient with traffic.” Just even those little minor sayings to be able to just get out there to the public.

Kate Young:

Are there any other networking or community things that you’re out and about on campus, where students could reach you if they wanted to?

Lesley Wiete:

Not yet, but I’m hoping that at some point I’m going to be able to get out and maybe even just walk around campus or come up with some idea… I know during one of my presentations I brought up lunch with the chief. Something like that. Maybe not lunch, or maybe there’s another component that we can have where I can be readily available and students can come, or faculty and staff can come and ask questions, or we can talk about issues that are a big deal for people that I may not be aware of. Maybe we can help. Maybe we can’t. Maybe there’s something we can do to make it better.

Kate Young:

Before being named Chief, Leslie Wiete began her career as a Purdue Police Department patrol officer in 1999. She was promoted to Sergeant of Patrol in 2002, Lieutenant of Patrol in 2009, Captain of Administrative Services in 2019, and Deputy Chief of Police in 2020. It was clearly a persistent pursuit to earn this role of Chief, but what’s really important to Chief Wiete? The students. What do you want students to see in you as their chief? You’re really approachable, I can tell right away, but what are some of the things that you want the Purdue students to see in you?

Lesley Wiete:

I think approachable is definitely one of those attributes. I want them to feel comfortable. I want them to think, “Hey, maybe I can get a meeting with the Chief”, or, “I want to talk about an issue,” or [inaudible 00:09:10] a paper. I know we have a lot of students that come in and want to talk to an officer anyway about different topics, and so it might depend on what the topic is of who we send them to because of the expertise. If they want to talk about canines, got to get one of my canine officers, or if it’s something community-policing-oriented or patrol-related, I’ll get a patrol officer to have those conversations.

So approachable is definitely one of those things. I think just letting people know that I truly do care. The police department, we have tough decisions to make at times, and to know that when we make those decisions, we’re doing them for the right reasons at the right time. And just to know that we are here for them, and I want them to feel comfortable to come and make a report if they need to. They can ask for help. That’s what we’re here for.

Kate Young:

Chief Wiete mentioned the importance of training programs for officers throughout her time pursuing the Chief role. She explains another goal of hers in the future: to encourage more training options for the Purdue Police Department officers.

Lesley Wiete:

Training as a law-enforcement officer is extremely important. So there’s so many different areas that we need to be trained in. But one thing that I have mentioned that I’d like to streamline and make more consistent is when we promote. So when we promote a new sergeant, a new lieutenant, to get them to the same types of training…. As a sergeant, this is the school you’re going to go to. As a lieutenant, this is the school you’re going to go to. I’ve been to many different types of schools. There’s good ones, there’s okay ones and not-so-good ones. So I’d like to see something more consistent at doing that.

Now, we already do have written in policy where, once you get promoted, you have a year where you have to go to a supervisory or leadership school. But I’d like to make it more consistent of what is that school, and not just random, “Okay, this leadership opportunity’s coming up,” or, “This supervisory school’s available in Indy.” Let’s break it down and make it more consistent and get something specific.

Kate Young:

Chief Wiete recently graduated from the elite Northwestern School of Police Staff & Command in June 2022. This program, also known as SPSC, is an intensive leadership and management education program that helps prepare experienced law-enforcement professionals for success in senior command positions. Former Chief of the Purdue University Police Department, John Cox, noted what a significant accomplishment this is. He said SPSC and the FBI National Academy are the two elite executive leadership schools sought by senior law-enforcement command staff around the world. Chief Wiete discusses her experience at the Northwestern School of Police Staff & Command.

Lesley Wiete:

I did that one online. So online, it’s 22 weeks. In person, it’s 10 weeks. They also have an introductory beginner supervisory one that’s two weeks long, and I believe it might be six weeks online, but I’d even like to get some of my newer supervisors to the two-week school and then implement the 10-week one down the road for those who want to further advance.

We had classes on leadership, budget, statistics, different things. Dealing with performance evaluations, difficult employees… There’s just a large amount of different things, the topics that they wanted to discuss. And it was two classes a week, so some of the classes were four weeks long, some maybe just a week or two weeks, but it was very in-depth, extensive training. They definitely offer that insight to things that maybe you didn’t know before that you need to know.

Kate Young:

As far as Chief Wiete’s advice to Boilermaker students, it’s just another example of her accessible and communicative nature, and how much she cares for the Purdue community.

Lesley Wiete:

Being a college student at one time, and being a police officer here on this campus for almost 23 years now, I’ve seen some things that have changed with the students. The one thing is their mental health. That is something that I think is truly valuable, and they need to make sure that they know what the resources are to help them if they need the help. Because I remember when I first started, if we went on these types of calls, check-wellbeings, it was definitely always around exam times or holidays, and now it’s all the time.

It’s all the time, and the different stressors that they have, whether it’s relationship issues, homesickness, doing bad in school, there’s just so many different things that plague the students these days. I think that they don’t know how to deal with the stress.

And the one thing I would say, especially when it comes to classes, grades, your majors: find what is your passion? Because I think so many of them are living for their parents and what their parents want them to do. I just don’t think that works for everybody. I think you have to find your own passion and what makes you happy, and I think sometimes they need to take a step back and figure that out.

Kate Young:

And that’s something that it’s the perfect time in college to do that, right?

Lesley Wiete:

Yeah. This is their time to shine, to figure those things out. Life is more of a marathon, not a sprint. So trying to determine what that route is, and they might change their major multiple times, and that’s okay. I don’t think that’s anything to be upset about. Or you get a bad grade. It’s going to be okay. Trust me, it’s going to be okay.

Kate Young:

Even in high school, and college, of course, it’s always going to be okay. When I look back and think about what you’re stressing about…

Lesley Wiete:

Yeah, all the stresses, and I know it’s very different from when I grew up. I have a teenage daughter, so I see the different stresses she or her friends might be dealing with in our current college population. So it is going to be okay. It doesn’t always seem like it, but there’s another day, another moment to improve or make some different decisions.

Kate Young:

Chief Wiete dives deeper into what this Boilermaker community means to her.

Lesley Wiete:

So many leaders have come out of Purdue. So many Boilermakers are leaders throughout the United States in whatever area they’ve chosen to pursue. You see a lot of great things from Boilermakers in the world.

Kate Young:

What do you think makes Purdue unique, when you think about how we’re producing these leaders?

Lesley Wiete:

There have been so many successful people that have come out of Purdue. We have made giant leaps. Neil Armstrong, Amelia Earhart, those are people that come to mind that I think you have many young people who look up to what they did, what they accomplished, and I think that’s amazing. And there’s many more out there, I know. There’s just so many wonderful people. I mean, the perseverance, the persistence, the never-giving-up attitude. I mean, that’s Purdue. That’s Boilermaker. That’s what it is.

Kate Young:

There’s a particular woman that Chief Wiete says she thinks about when she thinks about the Boilermaker spirit: Amelia Earhart. Amelia was the first women’s career counselor at Purdue in 1935 in an effort to expand women’s education.

Lesley Wiete:

I already mentioned Amelia Earhart. I think as a woman, as a trailblazer, the things she did for women in aviation and just women in general, showing that leadership in a time when women weren’t in the public eye, or nobody really necessarily thought of women doing great things, she did that. I see that her as a role model for many, many women.

But you have so many other wonderful people here at Purdue who have done the same thing, and I mean, I can think of a lot of people who have shaped my life here at Purdue. And when you think of some of the greats, the more iconic names, she always comes to mind. I lived in Earhart Hall, I lived in Earhart Hall, if that makes sense. But I lived in Earhart Hall when I was a student and lived there for two years.

Kate Young:

Okay. So if you’ve been listening to this podcast for a bit now, you know we enjoy a good love story on This is Purdue, and trust me, this story of how Chief Wiete met her husband, West Lafayette Police Department Lieutenant Stason Wiete, is a great one. Just a little hint, it involves a beloved Purdue staple too: Harry’s Chocolate Shop. Do you have a favorite memory, whether throughout your 22 years in the Department, maybe when you were a student at Purdue? Tell us some of those stories.

Lesley Wiete:

Okay, so you’re going to love this story. I have a lot of favorite memories, wonderful memories, as a student, as a police officer here at Purdue. But my most memorable and favorite is when I met my husband. He’s also a police officer, and we met at a bar fight at Harry’s Chocolate Shop.

Kate Young:

[inaudible 00:17:05].

Lesley Wiete:

Yes, we both worked night shift. He hadn’t been on too long, and they’d had a call and needed assistance. It had been one of those really, really busy nights. And so I went down there to help him out with a bar fight, and-

Kate Young:

The rest is history.

Lesley Wiete:

The rest is history. Yeah, I’ve been married 16-plus years.

Kate Young:

We love a love story on the podcast.

Lesley Wiete:

We worked different departments, but that’s how that all started.

Kate Young:

And you guys have a daughter?

Lesley Wiete:

We do.

Kate Young:

What’s it been like? You probably have some different hours. You’re not nine to five. What has that been like for your family?

Lesley Wiete:

So throughout my career, his career, being a parent, both in law enforcement, has its challenges as well. And I just never wanted to put her in daycare, and so we made the decision from early on to always try to have one of us with her. And so we’ve always worked opposite shifts. That’s another challenge in itself, but it’s worked for us. It’s actually worked really well for us, and she’s always had one of us there. Not that she hasn’t had a babysitter from time to time growing up, or a grandparent there with her, but overall, yeah, she’s a wonderful girl.

Kate Young:

As Chief Wiete just alluded to, being in law enforcement and being married to someone in law enforcement can be stressful, between working non-traditional hours and having completely different schedules. I asked Chief Wiete how she likes to unwind and spend time with her family. And let’s just say that Wiete are not fair-weather fans when it comes to a certain NFL team in the Midwest.

Lesley Wiete:

Of course, I love basketball, so we watch a lot of Purdue basketball and other teams as well. We like a lot of different sports. Football is pretty big in my house. Chicago Bears are number one for my husband, so we really watch the Chicago Bears, whether they’re doing well or not. They’re our team for sure.

Kate Young:

So you’re not a fair-weather-

Lesley Wiete:

Nope. We’re Chicago Bears through and through. So when it comes to football, it’s football season, and in our house we know when it’s football season.

Kate Young:

I asked Chief Wiete what role Purdue has played in her life.

Lesley Wiete:

A big role. Making the decision to come to school here, graduating and staying, and then meeting my husband, and now we live in this community, and I’ve been here myself for almost 23-plus years. If you count my college career, I guess it’s closer to 28 or something. So yeah, this is my world. This is my life. So it’s had a huge impact.

Kate Young:

As for Chief Wiete’s next giant leap, well, it certainly has to do with her persistence of earning the promotion to Chief and now serving as Chief.

Lesley Wiete:

Becoming the next Purdue Chief was definitely a big leap for me. What I would say to that is I think there’s a lot to come, and I would say stay tuned to what Purdue Police is going to do next. For sure.

Kate Young:

You heard it here first.

Lesley Wiete:

Yeah. Yeah.

Kate Young:

We had the opportunity to interview Chief Wiete the day of her official swearing-in and pinning ceremony. So I asked her how she was feeling leading up to this big moment.

Lesley Wiete:

I’m excited. I’m absolutely excited. A little nervous. My family will be there, and I’m sure there’ll be a lot of people in the Purdue community who will be there also. And I feel like that’ll be the final piece for me to really get things going, the transition to being the next Chief and getting to work.

Kate Young:

And even better, our This is Purdue podcast team went to this ceremony and watched Chief Wiete be sworn in as Chief of the Purdue University Police Department. The on-campus ceremony kicked off with some remarks from Jay Wasson, who I mentioned previously in this episode, and Purdue University President Mitch Daniels. During the event, Chief Wiete took the officer’s oath, and her family joined her on stage for the pinning ceremony. I want to share Chief Wiete’s speech with all of our listeners. It showcases her strength, persistence, and down-to-earth nature. As President Daniels alluded to in his speech during this ceremony, after that extensive and competitive national search for the next Purdue Police Chief, Jay chose the right person to represent the Purdue University Police Department, and it’s just the icing on top of the cake that she’s a Boilermaker alum herself. Enjoy.

Lesley Wiete:

Thank you to everybody who’s in attendance today, and even for those who can’t be here. I know I had several people reach out to me telling me they couldn’t be here but wished they could and wished me well, and I greatly appreciate that. I’m honored to be standing here today as the next Chief of Police for Purdue University, and to serve my department and community in this position. I’d like to take this time to thank several people, and I wish I could name everybody, but we’d be here for a really, really long time, and I know nobody wants to be here that long, right? I mean, we got 10 more minutes maybe.

But first, I’d like to thank my new boss, Jay Wasson, for believing in me and knowing the great work we will do for our department and Purdue community. I’m looking forward to our partnership. Thank you.

I also want to thank retired Chief Cox and Senior Director Shelby for guiding me and give me the tools to be successful today. Thank you. I know you’re a big reason why I’m standing here today.

And obviously I’ve got to thank the Purdue community. I’ve had such an outpouring of support from everybody outside the department. It’s almost been overwhelming. I’m so grateful and appreciative of those people who have reached out to me. Some I haven’t talked to in a long time. I received emails, text messages, phone calls, in person, and letters from someone that I haven’t heard from in a very long time. It’s meant the world to me.

So I’m looking forward to building on our current relationships that I already have, and I’m also looking forward to the new relationships that I’m just beginning to build, and knowing that we rely on the public support, it’s imperative to have those positive working relationships.

And to our local law-enforcement agencies, the chiefs and sheriffs that are present today, I value your support and will look to you when I hit that bump on the road for guidance. I’m sure I will call upon you. I admire you and look up to your leadership, so I thank you all also for helping shape my career.

To my department, the support from everyone in my department has been amazing. There are no words to explain what I have felt from everybody in the department. I’ve had several people tell how proud they are to have me as their Chief, and how excited they are to continue our work together. I’m proud to be your Chief, and it’s because of all of you that I’m here today. I have some of the greatest officers and employees, and I’m so proud to work with you. You make the department run 24/7 and I don’t have to worry.

So I also need to thank my family. I couldn’t do this without the support of my family, any of you. We all know that it takes the support. You miss holidays, special events… Every home football game, obviously, is taken up.

So I’m going to start with my mother. She’s here today, always supportive, as a mother is. And when I was embarking on my career in law enforcement, obviously this is a dangerous job, and a lot of times parents are going to worry, don’t want you to go into this field. And I asked her about that, and she told me that, “As your mom, I’m going to worry about you no matter what you do. So choose your path, choose what makes you happy, and carry on.” And that’s exactly what I’ve done. Thank you.

To my in-laws, the Wietes, who are here today. You not only have a daughter-in-law, you have a son in law enforcement. So you have double trouble. Something I kept and I wanted to just share today that you have sent me, my mother-in-law is queen of cards, holidays, special occasions and everything like that, but when I was appointed to Deputy Chief, they both sent me a nice letter, and I just want to read a portion of that for the prediction of the future. I don’t know if you remember this, but: “Congratulations on your promotion. You certainly deserve it. We are so proud of you. We look forward to the day when we call you Chief Wiete.” So thank you, and I’ve kept that, and I appreciate all your support you’ve given us and Stason and Emma. Thank you.

To my daughter Emma. My daughter is one of the toughest people I know. She’s very tough. She’s not afraid to speak her mind, and I’m proud of her for that. She’s grown up with two parents in law enforcement. Not every kid can say that. And she knows she can’t get away with very much. She’s made me proud.

So there’ve been many times when I’ve had to put one of our outings on hold because of a work problem that’s called, and I’ve had to even go into work to take care of it, but I made it back and we went on our outings. You’ve always been strong during the difficult times, and I know this will serve you well in your future. Your patience is remarkable, for a teenager.

So I have to share a little story about her character that occurred this weekend. It’s a good story, I promise. I promise. I promise. So this past weekend, we had a home football game. Of course, this kickoff time was 4:01 PM. She had her first homecoming dance, and I couldn’t be there. I couldn’t help her get ready for that big moment. I did get pictures, but that wasn’t good enough for me as her mom. Sorry. Not good enough. I wanted to be there. I told her. I said, “When I’m done, I’m coming over there. I’m coming to the high school to see you.” And I even told her, “You can wait outside for me or I’m coming in.”

She chose to go in. So I went in, in full uniform, and found her, and she welcomed me with open arms and wasn’t embarrassed one bit, not like a lot of teenagers would probably be embarrassed for their parents to show up, let alone a mom in uniform. So I appreciate that. And know I love you. It means the world to me, and I’m so proud of you.

To my husband. I don’t know, many people probably know this story. We met at a bar fight. We were working. We weren’t fighting. We were working, on duty. On duty. The iconic Harry’s Chocolate Shop. And the rest is history. You are my strength and my rock. We lean on each other through everything: the good and the bad, the happy and the sad. You’ve always been there for me. I can’t ask for a better husband. Your endless love and support in pushing me to take those next steps, it’s always been so important to me. I know we often joke about our lunches out. We’re seeing each other. We’re seeing you work overtime details or whatever the situation is while we’re in uniform, working. That’s quality time for us. There are plenty of days we don’t even see each other, especially this time of year. It’s one of the busiest times for this community. Thank you for being my rock. I love you.

So in closing, know that I am committed to the Purdue community and to the community that surrounds us. I’m committed to our department and I’m so proud of all of our department: the officers, dispatchers, clerical staff. You all are amazing. Just know, I know I won’t always make the decisions that are the most popular, but trust that I believe I’ll do the right thing at the right time for the right reasons.

Officers are faced with significant challenges in this profession: challenges and split-second decisions that most will never understand. You are what stands between good and evil, and I know you have chosen this profession for the right reasons, and I love working with all of you. And like I said in my presentation, for those of you who missed it, I love all of you, even if you don’t love me back. I support all of you, and together we are a stronger bunch as we move forward. Thank you.

Kate Young:

If you’d like to watch our full video interview with Chief Wiete, head over to YouTube, youtube.com/purdue.

Thanks for listening to This is Purdue. For more information on this episode, visit our website at purdue.edu/podcast. There, you can head over to your favorite podcast app to subscribe and leave us a review. And as always, boiler up!